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RAPAPORT... Titan Company Ltd. reported that revenue rose 55.7 percent year on year to $580 million (INR 35.65 billion) in the second quarter that ended on September 30. The strong increase was, in part, due to the redemption of "Golden Harvest" accounts from existing customers, which were set to be closed as a result of new regulatory changes, according to the company. Titan's profit rose 28.6 percent to $39 million (INR 2.4 billion). Watch division revenue was given a boost from strong sales of Titan and Fastrack brands and rose 20 percent to $85.7 million (INR 5.27 billion). Jewelry business sales jumped nearly 65 percent to $476 million (INR 29.3 billion). Titan operates precision engineering and eyewear divisions and a business-to-business service, with a combined revenue increase of nearly 21 percent. Bhaskar Bhat, the managing director of Titan, said, "This was an extraordinary quarter for the company and we witnessed an income growth of over 55 percent on account of encouraging performance by all divisions, especially the jewelry business where the accounts of our Golden Harvest scheme customers had to be closed. We have also seen an improvement in consumer sentiment in the second quarter and many of our brands ran successful activations to build on this sentiment and the festive mood. Gold prices have been stable and inflation is falling, which would help in providing a lift to the economy. However, the coming quarter will have to be observed and tackled appropriately as some channels are beginning to report lower footfall. All our brands will invest in new campaigns this quarter to improve our connection with the consumer."
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